Snowed Out

The California Fish and Game Commission made a rare appearance in Siskiyou County on March 6 at the Mt. Shasta Hatchery – though “appearance” is not quite accurate. None of the current four commissioners were able to attend last week’s meeting in person due to the storm that blanketed much of the region in a foot or more of snow.

The California Fish and Game Commission made a rare appearance in Siskiyou County on March 6 at the Mt. Shasta Hatchery – though “appearance” is not quite accurate. None of the current four commissioners were able to attend last week’s meeting in person due to the storm that blanketed much of the region in a foot or more of snow.

However, the show did go on, complete with commission staff members, game wardens, about 100 public attendees and a full array of audio and video equipment to record the meeting. The commissioners participated via a telephone conference line.

The commission is composed of up to five members, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the California Senate. Currently one of the five seats is vacant. Commissioners serve six-year terms, with the term of no more than one commissioner expiring in any year. Commissioners are not full-time state employees. They are individuals involved in private enterprise with expertise in various wildlife-related fields.

A major responsibility of the commission is its general regulatory function, through which it decides seasons, bag limits and methods of take for game animals and sport fish. In adopting hunting and fishing regulations, the commission holds a series of at least three open public meetings located in various parts of the state where individuals and groups can provide input prior to adoption of new or changed regulations.

That input process made up much of last week’s meeting in Mount Shasta.

First on the agenda was a general public comment period dureral public comment period during which Siskiyou County Water Users Association (SCWUA) advisor Richard Gierack raised the issue of the status of coho salmon. He expressed frustration that SCWUA has submitted several petitions to remove the fish from the state’s endangered species list where it is currently considered threatened. Gierack said the petitions have been rejected for minute technical reasons based on language.

Sonke Mastrup, executive director of commission staff told Gierack he would help him to better understand the petition requirements.

Siskiyou County supervisors Ed Valenzuela and Michael Kobseff also spoke during public comments to thank the commission for choosing Siskiyou County for a meeting location.

The most popular topic of comments early in the meeting was the subject of predator hunting and hunting contests.

Shasta County resident Don Belkin called the hunts “killing contests” and said they promoted a poaching mentality because animals are killed merely for size and number in order to win the contest and are then discarded.

Several public comments about the predator hunting contests pointed to recent reports of piles of fox carcasses found discarded along roadsides in Shasta County.

Another popular topic for comment was the question of whether the commission should consider the Clear Lake Hitch, a member of the minnow family, as a possible candidate for the state endangered species list.

Page 2 of 2 - Several members of Native American tribes in the Clear Lake area spoke urging the commission to make the fish a candidate for listing. They said the fish has been a part of their diet and traditional lifestyle for generations and losing the species would be a huge loss to their culture.

Those who spoke against the candidacy said there is a lack of hard scientific data to support claims of catastrophic declines in the fish’s populations while several tribal speakers and others offered information about habitat loss and population trends to the contrary.

Kobseff told the board that his experience in Siskiyou County with coho has taught him that listing a species can actually be an obstacle to recovery because of the regulatory road blocks.

The commission also took public comments on its consideration of placing the spotted owl on the state endangered species list.

Several foresters, land managers and biologists – including Roseburg Forest Products biologist Rich Klug – spoke about their concerns with listing the owl.

Most of the comments on the issue were based on concerns that a state listing would stop or interrupt essential monitoring efforts that are currently underway to evaluate the owl’s populations and needs. Klug said the collection permits required if the bird was listed by the state would interrupt field surveys for up to two years, creating a very detrimental gap in information.

A bright spot in the meeting was the discussion of season and bag limits for Klamath/Trinity Chinook salmon sport fishing.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Ocean Salmon Project Biologist Barry Miller presented information about the 2013 run of Klamath Chinook salmon. He said current estimates of the in-ocean abundance for the Klamath River stand at about 727,000 fish. He warned that number would diminish due to predation and ocean fishing but said the run looks like it will still be a stronger than average run when the fish begin to enter the river in the fall.

Miller said last year’s Klamath River Chinook escapement (the number of fish estimated to have spawned) was a record high of 302,108.